Thousands of Sri Lankan lawyers have boycotted the inauguration of the new chief justice.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has been calling for reinstatement of Shirani Bandaranayake, who was sacked earlier this month after being impeached by Parliament on charges of financial and official misconduct.

She was replaced by former Attorney-General, Mohan Peiris, who had been serving the government's chief legal adviser.

Lawyers usually take a leading role in welcoming a new chief justice to the bench.

But many say due process was not followed in Mrs Banadaranayake's sacking and the 12,000-strong Bar Association kept away from a welcoming ceremony for Mr Peiris at the Colombo Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The President of Bar Association is President's Counsel Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who is also a sitting MP.

He told AsiaPacific the Bar wants a fair trial for Mrs Bandaranayake in line with international standards.

"And that in the event the government, the parliament refused to allow that procedure ... we also decided we would not welcome the new chief justice after the sacking of the former chief justice."

"Whatever the judicial institution or the body or the tribunal, when they come to a conclusion to see whether a particular person is guilty or not, the most fundamental and basic principle is that there has to be a hearing, with witnesses," he added.

"In the absence of any such process or determination, I don't think that anybody will accept that as a justifiable decision on the part of the parliamentary select committee."

International criticism

Along with two successive court rulings that the impeachment was not legal, there has been a chorus of international criticism.

In an open letter to the Preisdent Mahinda Rajapakse on Wednesday, the International Commission of Jurists said Mrs Bandaranayake's removal was "unconstitutional and in contravention of international standards on judicial independence" as it called for her reinstatement.

"The Rajapakse government has brought Sri Lanka within steps of authoritarian rule, dismantling the system of checks and balances and eviscerating judicial independence," said Wilder Tayler, the organisation's secretary general.

Mrs Bandaranayake has said the charges were politically motivated - a claim the Government denies.

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